On a low elevation hummocky young moraine surface; adjacent to a large area of thermokarst moraine alongside an ice lobe in a small side valley of the Hatherton Glacier
Altitude:
950 m
Aspect:
Nil
Slope:
0 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GGC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
79° 54.6' S 156° 50.9' E
79° 55' S 156° 49' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-79.9100 156.8480
-79.92 156.817
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.0008 0.0008
0.04 0.008
Locality
Darwin/Hatherton Glacier, Darwin Mountains Transantarctic Mountains
Survey
United States Geological Survey 1966; 1:250,000 Carlyon Glacier Antarctica
Climate
Soil climate zone:
Central Mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-25
°C
Frozen ground depth:
0 cm
Frozen type:
Frozen comment:
Geology
Geological setting:
Local rocks are Ferrar Dolerite and Beacon Sandstone; the till includes some granite which is widespread lower down the Darwin Glacier; flakey fine textured tabular pellet-like material occurs beneath some boulders and appears to be part of a precipitation process
Patterned ground:
Nil
Surface weathering or surface features:
Surface rocks are unweathered; the material on the underside of the rock resembles flattish flakey pellets
Soil
Soil parent material:
Grey flakes of silty to clayey material possibly formed by freeze drying
Patchy snow cover with some slight thawing; the material precipitated beneath the rock indicates that the site may have been previously wet
Biological activity:
Nil observed
Profile Description
Horizon
Depth
Description
423a
0
–
2
cm
light brownish grey (2.5Y 6/2) clayey silt forming abundant thin conchoidal flaky aggregates up to around 7.5mm diameter and peeling to very thin flakes; small salt encrustations on some edges